(Author's Warning: Like everything else, this takes place in my series, set up by the events in my first story "More Than My Friend" where the big event is that Frankie adopts Mac. If you haven't read that story yet, I strongly suggest you do so now, or else you might get terribly confused.)

"…C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, oh c'mon!" the frantic azure figment urged his fighter on desperately while he furiously pressed the buttons of the video game controller. "C'mon, you can do it! Hyper-Mega-Punch, right to his stomach! Yeah, c'mon, you can-NO! No, no, no!"

Almost lazily, his opponent dodged the attack with ease and struck right back with a spectacular spinning kick that sent computer-animated blood spewing across the TV screen. While Bloo squealed shrilly in dismay, the little boy sitting alongside him just smirked triumphantly with a chuckle. "Ha! You call that an attack?"

"No fair! No fair! No fair at all!" the imaginary friend erupted into protest. "I hate playing Ultra Fighter 3 with you, Mac! Hate it, hate it, hate it! Every time we play, you're such a big cheater! You're just such a big cheater, and I hate it! Come on! For once in your life, fight fair!"

"Bloo, seriously, you say that every time I'm beating you!" Mac countered exasperatedly as they battled on. "You managed to beat me last match-"

"Just barely, and only because that time you weren't cheating as much as you usually do!" Bloo accused shamelessly. "Look, my guy has like, almost no health left, and you're not even missing half! No fair, Mac! Cut it out!"

"Oh, give it up!" the boy proclaimed with a triumphant grin as he prepared to deliver a spectacular final blow and complete his victory. "You're just mad that I'm the champ when it comes to-"

"Game over, guys." Someone suddenly announced. Before the startled child or his surprised creation could react, a lanky redheaded woman swiftly wormed her way between them, bent over, and deftly turned off the game console, thus bringing the epic battle to an abrupt end.

"Frankie!" Mac exclaimed in dismay as triumph was snatched from his grasp. "Hey, what're you doing?"

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Frances "Frankie" Foster shot right back as she tapped her wristwatch. "See the time? In case you forgot, it's a school night, Mac Foster. C'mon, you know the drill! Time to put on your jammies on and your fanny in bed."

Maybe her choice of words wouldn't have bothered Mac so greatly has she been teasing him. Alas, she was talking way too nonchalantly for it to be a joke. So while the boy grimaced in horror at the dead-serious maternal young woman, Bloo meanwhile promptly forgot all about the video game, and couldn't help but burst out snickering in amusement.

"Hey, c'mon," Mac whined. "Frankie, don't-"

"No buts, kiddo. Wouldn't do anyone a bunch of good if you don't get enough sleep and shuffle down to breakfast a regular Mr. Crankypants, would it?" she reminded with a grin as she gave his cheek a quick pinch.

At that point, Bloo was sniggering uncontrollably, while Mac's extremely maternal guardian swiftly took him down a notch from the boastful champion of just a minute before. As his face started to sport a vibrant crimson blush, the boy attempted to protest his treatment in a last-ditch try to salvage some dignity. "Fra-"

"C'mon, let's go, pal. Upsy-daisy!" Without allowing him to say so much as one syllable more, the young woman grabbed him by the waist and hefted him up off the floor with ease. The instant she had him perched upon her shoulders, she wheeled around and made a quick exit. As the two left, Mac could hear his imaginary friend's peals of laughter echoed loudly throughout the room behind them.

"Heeheeheehee!" Bloo giggled uncontrollably before teasingly calling after his creator in a teasing falsetto, "Nighty-night, sweetie-pie! Heeheehee!"

By now, Mac was as red as a ripe cherry, while Frankie, on the other hand didn't seem to notice his raging embarrassment at all as she went about with her bedtime duties. It was only by the time she had reached the foot of the main staircase in the foyer when a sharp tug on her ponytail alerted her to the fact that something was wrong.

"Hey!" the surprised redhead yelped. "Mac, what are you-"

"You know, sometimes I think Bloo is actually right!" the abashed boy snapped. Unfortunately, judging by the blank look she wore as she looked upwards to meet his gaze, Frankie didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

"Excuse me?" she countered incredulously.

"Sometimes, Bloo's dead-on!" Mac explained with a scowl. "You just-"

"Whoa, whoa, what are you talking about?" Frankie pried curiously. "Pal, you know just as well as I do the 'treasure' he said he said he found this morning was just an old waffle behind the radiator near-"

"No, no, not that!" he groaned. "It's just….look, you know how Bloo gets grossed out sometimes if he thinks he sees us hugging too much, or-"

"How can I forget?" she sighed. "He whines about it at least once a-"

"Well…not all the time…but sometimes, he's absolutely right!" Mac repeated, to her ongoing bewilderment.

"Wait….what?"

"I'm sorry, you're just too much sometimes!" the child griped unhappily. "You go overboard, and-"

"And just what's that supposed to mean?" she demanded sharply.

Mac rolled his eyes and sighed. "Frankie, I'm not a baby! So why do you treat me like one sometimes?"

She just gazed upwards at him curiously before brushing off his accusation with a scoff. Pfft! Oh, c'mon! I do not treat you like a-"

"Oh yeah?" her charge countered. "Well then, what was that all about just now? 'Jammies?' 'Fanny?' 'Crankypants?'"

"What?" Frankie retorted defensively. "Hey, it's bedtime, what do you expect me to tell you? Either you get your pajamas on and your butt in bed, or you're going to be exhausted tomorrow-"

"If that's what you wanted to say, then you could've just put it that way! You didn't have to tell me that like I'm a two-year-old-old!" Mac scowled.

"I still don't get what your problem is here, but for your information, I can say anything however I want to." she tried to argue. "So tough luck, pal, I-"

"Nuh-uh! Not when they make me feel like a total baby!" Mac replied flatly. "Frankie, I'm not a little kid!"

Frankie just groaned in exasperation as she reminded, "Pal….in case you forgot, you're nine years old. Like that makes you a-HEY!"

Without warning, her upset charge started squirming like a child possessed atop her shoulders. "Hey, hey! What's the matter with you? Jeez, just calm down, will ya? Hey! Just what are you trying to do?"

"Trying to get down, that's what!" Mac told her defiantly as he struggled to assert himself. "I don't need you to carry me!"

"Whoa! Pal, c'mon! Mac, will you just cut it out already?" she snapped as her patience wore thin with his shenanigans. "Seriously, I do this all the time, and you never raise this much of a fuss-"

"Because most of the time I'm either too tired to do anything else, or I'm already asleep." He countered as he continued wiggling. "Frankie, please! Just put me down, I can get upstairs on my own!"

"It's not like you're that hard to carry!" Frankie argued right back. "It's not a prob-"

"No, see, that's the thing! You don't even have to carry me!" the boy unhappily reminded her yet again. "Seriously, why do you have to treat me like this sometimes? Frankie, it's…it's embarrassing, that's what it is!"

"Wait, is that what this is all about?" Frankie asked as she struggled to keep him from scaling down her like she was a tree. "For Pete's sake! What, has Bloo been teasing you because i-"

"I just told you, it gets so embarrassing when treat me you did just now in the TV room, you seriously have no idea! I mean, How would you feel if Wilt still gave you good-night hugs right in front of-"

"You know what? Actually, he still does!" she answered unashamedly. "And you know what else? It doesn't bug me at all! If my imaginary friend wants to hug me, then fine, and if I want you carry you on my shoulders, then-"

"But I'm not a little kid!" Mac continued protesting. "Newsflash, I'm growing up, and-"

"For that last time, Mac Foster, you're only nine! If you want me to be more cold and loveless towards you, you're out of luck, because in case you forgot, we're family. Now settle down! No need to go overboard just because Bloo giggled at you-"

"But it's too embarrassing to be treated like this! Being family means we respect each other, too!" Mac argued. "Frankie, just lay off a little now and then, that's all I'm asking! Please!"

Once it became all too clear from the dogged determination in his tone that he wasn't backing down one inch, Frankie finally gave up. She still didn't quite understand what was wrong, but seeing how passionate her charge felt about this, maybe this was a bit of a problem, she admitted reluctantly. Truthfully, she wasn't sure whether to feel upset, or a little embarrassed, but nevertheless she hefted the child up off her shoulders and set him down on his feet with a sigh.

"Okay, okay…" she murmured. "If this bugs you that much, all right, I don't want to embarrass you to death or anything…I'll try and keep on eye n myself in the future."

"Thank you." Mac gasped gratefully. With victory his, the child began ascending the stairs on his own, with his guardian slowly plodding along in tow. However, his jubilation was short-lived once he glanced around and saw the hurt written all over her features, he frowned and hastily muttered, "Frankie, I'm sorry, it's not that…this doesn't mean I…see, it's just-"

"No, no, I get it." She sighed again as she relented. "I guess I can get a little smothering…if you say so…."

"Well…yeah, kinda…" he affirmed, this time rather gently.

"And so…I take it that'll be a no for a good-night hug later?" she inquired for good measure.

"Maybe to the hug…" Mac answered before quickly changing his mind as he strove hard to assert himself. "Wait, no...yeah, no on the hug...and no good-night kisses or anything like that, either."

His totally bewildered guardian just shrugged as they continued on their way. "Well…if that's really what you want…"

"Oh, yikes!" the lanky redheaded caretaker exclaimed the instant she passed a quick glance to the alarm clock by her bedside.

Well, so much for the "light reading" she had originally planned on right before turning in for the night. It was now practically eleven-thirty, meaning she needed to start getting some shuteye unless she actually wanted to be exhausted when she woke up to greet the new day. Hastily, the nightgown-garbed young woman slammed her book shut, tossed it to the floor next to her bed, and hurriedly reached over to turn off the light.

However, Frankie had barely rolled over and closed her eyes when a gentle knock on the door startled her. Immediately, she sat up in bed, and just gazed dumbly across the darkened room at her bedroom door, as if she couldn't tell whether she had imagined it or not. When another knock however confirmed that someone was indeed beckoning her, she bewilderedly clambered out of bed to answer.

"Uh…just a sec…" she called as she opened the door, and was promptly greeted with a meek murmur.

"Um…h-hey, Frankie…"

Her eyes were still adjusting to the dark, but the little boy's voice was more than enough to give his identity away as Frankie whispered curiously in surprise, "…Mac?"

In a heartbeat she was down upon on knee and inquiring instinctively, "What is it, pal? What's wrong, did you just have a nightmare or something?"

After wordlessly just fidgeting about for a few moments, the clearly embarrassed child confessed, "Uh…no…actually, I…I…well…I kinda…I haven't even fallen asleep yet, and-"

"Wait, what?" she replied confusedly. "But…you went to bed almost two hours ago. Is everything okay? Are you…"

Frankie paused abruptly in mid-sentence as she suddenly received a most curious hunch. As ridiculous as it sounded at first, she couldn't help but ask curiously, "Hold on…are you…wait, are you having trouble falling asleep because-"

"I….well…no, I…I-I…" Mac stammered. "I…uh…wait, no, I…I just…"

Alas, despite his pleas, a noticeable smirk had already begun to spread across her face, much to his panic. Ack! No, no, no! Frankie no! Don't say it! Don't say it! Don't say it because it's not-"

"You are, aren't you?" she accused with a triumphant chuckle. "You seriously have trouble falling asleep if you don't get...ha! I don't believe it-"

"Nuh-uh!" Mac's first impulse was to frantically deny the accusation. "I…it's just…I-I…um…"

Realizing that he wasn't fooling her at all, and completely unable to come up with so much as a half-decent lie to try and cover himself, the boy finally ceased his stammering, sighed heavily in resignation, and without further ado, held up his little arms towards her with a hopeful whimper. "Please?"

Fortunately for him and what was left of his dignity, his now quite gleeful guardian didn't seize upon this prime chance to rub it in his face. Instead, just scooped him up, and planted a light kiss on Mac's forehead before happily squeezing her charge in a warm hug.

"Lucky for you, little man," Frankie laughed while beaming brightly from ear to ear, "I don't think I'm going to outgrow this anytime soon either."

The End